{{Short description|Immortal person or entity in Taoism}} {{Italic title}} {{hatnote group| {{About|entities in Taoist religion||Xian (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|Sennin|the spider genus|Sennin (spider)}} }} {{Multiple issues| {{Primary sources|date=February 2024}} {{cleanup lang|iso=zh|date=February 2024}} }} [[Image:Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea - Project Gutenberg eText 15250.jpg|thumbnail|right|upright=1.2|"The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea"{{r|Werner1922}}]] {{Taoism|Concepts}} {{Chinese folk religion}} A '''{{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}}''' ({{lang-zh|s=仙|t=仙, 僊|p=xiān|w=hsien|first=t}}) is any manner of immortal or mythical being within the Taoist pantheon or Chinese folklore. {{tlit|zh|pinyin|Xian}} has often been translated into English as 'transcendent', 'immortal', or 'wizard'.
Traditionally, {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} refers to entities who have attained immortality and supernatural or magical abilities later in life, with a connection to the heavenly realms inaccessible to mortals. This is often achieved through spiritual self-cultivation, alchemy, or worship by others.<ref name=":18" /> This is different from the gods (deities) in Chinese mythology and Taoism.
{{tlit|zh|pinyin|Xian}} is also used as a descriptor to refer to often benevolent figures of great historical, spiritual and cultural significance. The Quanzhen School of Taoism defined {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} in various ways, including a metaphorical sense meaning a good or principled person.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Martin |title=The Elements of Taoism |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |year=1999 |isbn=0-7607-1078-3 |location=United States |page=89 |author-link=Martin Palmer}}</ref>
{{tlit|zh|pinyin|Xian}} have been venerated from ancient times to the modern day in a variety of ways across different cultures and religious sects in China.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |title=World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts |publisher=Paragon House Publishers |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-55778-723-1 |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=Andrew |edition=1st paperback |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |page=20}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Stevenson |first=Jay |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy |publisher=Alpha Books |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-02-863820-1 |location=Indianapolis |pages=13, 224, 352 |language=en-US}}</ref>
In China, gods (deities) and {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} are often mentioned together as {{tlit|zh|pinyin|shenxian}} ({{Zh-no-labels|c=神仙|p=shénxiān}}).
==Description== Victor H. Mair describes the {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} archetype as: <blockquote>They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as {{tlit|zh|pinyin|rishi}} who possessed similar traits.{{r|Mair1994_376}}</blockquote>
{{tlit|zh|pinyin|Xian}} were regarded as "personal gods" who had been human and ascended through ascetics, scholarship, or martial arts.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Philip |title=Illustrated Dictionary of Religions |publisher=DK |year=1999 |isbn=0-7894-4711-8 |editor-last=Spilling |editor-first=Michael |edition=First American |location=New York |pages=67–68, 70, 121 |author-link=Philip Wilkinson (author) |editor-last2=Williams |editor-first2=Sophie |editor-last3=Dent |editor-first3=Marion}}</ref> Taoists would venerate them, and emulate their example in everyday life.<ref name=":14" />
The Eight Immortals are examples of {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} who became folk heroes believed to assist worthy followers and mediate between the living and the dead. Sometimes, they and other {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} were viewed as similar in nature to ghosts, rather than deities.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":100">{{Cite book |title=World Religions: Eastern Traditions |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor=Willard Gurdon Oxtoby |year=2002 |isbn=0-19-541521-3 |edition=2nd |location=Don Mills, Ontario |page=401 |oclc=46661540}}</ref> The Eight Immortals and other {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} were believed to possess powers connected to their symbolic tools, which could extend or shorten human lifespans depending on their use.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book |title=The Secrets of the Universe in 100 Symbols |publisher=Chartwell Books |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-7858-4142-5 |location=New York |page=105}}</ref>
Some Taoists regarded {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} as inner gods of the body, capable of troubling mortals but countered through martial virtue and discipline.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clayre |first=Alasdair |title=The Heart of the Dragon |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-395-35336-3 |edition=First American |location=Boston |page=43 |author-link=Alasdair Clayre}}</ref> They were considered capable of both benevolent and malevolent actions.<ref name=":15"/> Not all {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} originated within Taoist practice but they are most often associated with Taoist adepts who achieved immortality through spiritual cultivation.{{sfn|Campany|2002|pp=30–1}}
Besides enlightened humans and fairy-like beings, {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} can also refer to supernatural animals, including foxes, fox spirits,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=Taschen |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=280 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}</ref> and Chinese dragons.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Minford |first=John |title=Tao Te Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao |publisher=Viking Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-670-02498-8 |location=New York |pages=ix-x |language=en-US |author-link=John Minford}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=Tao Tao Liu |title=Dragons, Gods & Spirits from Chinese Mythology |publisher=Peter Bedrick Books |year=1980 |isbn=0-87226-922-1 |location=New York |page=73}}</ref> Xiān dragons were believed to serve as mounts for Deities<ref name=":16" /> or as manifestations of Taoist sages such as Laozi in celestial realms sometimes called "the Heavens" ({{lang-zh|c=天|p=Tiān|labels=no}}).<ref name=":13" />
The mythological {{tlit|zh|pinyin|huli jing}} ({{Zh-no-labels|c=狐狸精|p=húli jīng|l=fox fairy; vixen; witch; enchantress}}) is also known as {{tlit|zh|pinyin|huxian}} ({{Zh-no-labels|c=狐仙|p=húxiān|l=fox immortal}}).
Akira Akahori, the author of ''Drug Taking and Immortality,'' gives this description: <blockquote>Legends of so-called immortals were widely accepted by the ancient Chinese. Although the concept of immortals was not exactly the same through the ages, some general images persisted. Immortals usually live in clean and pure places such as high mountains; they do not eat cereals; they appear only to people who perform the proper religious practices or have the right kind of destiny. Some immortals also live in grottoes underneath the sacred mountains. They can freely change their appearance: sometimes they appear in the everyday world looking like ordinary men, to test young immortal aspirants. They move very swiftly and fly through the air, sometimes using wings.<ref>(Akahori 1989:73-98)</ref></blockquote>
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==Types of ''xian'' and levels of achievement== {{Panorama |image = File:Eighty-seven Celestials.jpg |height = 200 |dir=rtl |caption = ''Xian'' as depicted on ''Eighty-seven Immortals'' ({{lang|zh|八十七神仙}}), popularly attributed to Tang dynasty painter Wu Daozi, currently housed in Xu Beihong Memorial Hall in Beijing. }}
=== ''Zhongli Chuandao ji'' === [[File:瑤池獻壽_金廷標_清代_台北故宫.jpg|thumb|Xiwangmu descends from heavens with a Peach of Immortality (''Jade Pond Birthday greeting'', by Jin Tingbiao, Qing dynasty]] [[File:Shang_Xi-Four_Immortals_Salute_Longevity.jpg|thumb|''Four Immortals Saluting Longevity,'' by Shang Xi ({{lang|zh|商喜}}), early Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The immortals are from left to right: Shide, Hanshan, Iron-Crutch Li, and Liu Haichan. The longevity deity riding the crane.]]
The {{zhp|c=鐘呂傳道集|p=Zhōng lǚ chuándào jí|tr=|l=Anthology of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhong to Lü}} is a Song dynasty Taoist compendium, following the {{zhp|c=鍾呂|p=Zhōng Lǚ}} textual tradition of internal alchemy ({{tlit|zh|pinyin|neidan}}), which lists five classes of immortals:
*{{zhp|c=鬼仙|p=Guǐ xiān}} —"Ghost Immortals": A person who cultivates too much yin energy. These immortals are likened to Vampires because they drain the life essence of the living, much like the fox spirit. Ghost immortals do not leave the realm of ghosts. *{{zhp|c=人仙|p=Rén xiān}} —"Human Immortals": Humans have an equal balance of yin and yang energies, so they have the potential of becoming either a ghost or immortal. Although they continue to hunger and thirst and require clothing and shelter like a normal human, these immortals do not suffer from aging or sickness. Human immortals do not leave the realm of humans. There are many sub-classes of human immortals. *{{zhp|c=地仙|p=De xiān}} — "Earthly Immortals": When the yin is transformed into the pure yang, a true immortal body will emerge that does not need food, drink, clothing or shelter and is not affected by hot or cold temperatures. Earth immortals do not leave the realm of earth. These immortals are forced to stay on earth until they shed their human form. *{{zhp|c=神仙|p=Shénxiān}} —"Spirit Immortals" also known as "Divine Immortals": The immortal body of the earthbound class will eventually change into vapor through further practice. They have supernatural powers and can take on the shape of any object. These immortals must remain on earth, acquiring merit by teaching mankind about the Tao. Spirit immortals do not leave the realm of spirits. Once enough merit is accumulated, they are called to heaven by a celestial decree. *{{zhp|c=天仙|p=Tiānxiān}} —"Celestial Immortals" also known as "Heavenly Immortals" : Spirit immortals who are summoned to heaven are given the minor office of water realm judge. Over time, they are promoted to oversee the earth realm and finally become administrators of the celestial realm. These immortals have the power to travel back and forth between the earthly and celestial realms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kohn |first=Livia |title=The Zhong-Lü system of internal alchemy |date=2020 |publisher=Three Pines Press |isbn=978-1-931483-44-5 |location=St. Petersburg, FL |pages=119–124}}</ref>
===''Baopuzi''=== [[File:明顧繡八仙慶壽掛屏（一）南極仙翁 軸.tif|thumb|Ming dynasty painting of Old Man of the South Pole riding a crane]] The 4th century CE ''Baopuzi'' ({{lang|zh|抱朴子}} "[Book of] Master Embracing Simplicity"), written by Ge Hong, gives some highly detailed descriptions of ''xian'', listing three classes: * {{zhp|c=天仙|p=Tiānxiān}} – "Celestial Immortals" or "Heavenly Immortals" - The highest level. * {{zhp|c=地仙|p=Dì xiān}} – "Earthly Immortals" - The middle level. * {{zhp|c=屍解仙|p=Shījiě xiān|l=Corpse Untie Immortal}} - "Escaped-by-means-of-a-stimulated-corpse-simulacrum Immortal"- The lowest level. This is considered the lowest form of immortality since a person must first "fake" their own death by substituting a bewitched object like a bamboo pole, talisman, or a shoe for their corpse. Mortals who choose this route have to protect themselves from heavenly retribution by enacting the {{zhp|c=靈寳太玄隂生之符|p=Língbǎo tàixuán yīnshēng zhī fú|tr=Numinous Treasure Talisman of the Grand Mystery for Living in Hiding}}.{{sfn|Campany|2002|pp=52–60}}
However, this is not a true form of immortality. For each misdeed a person commits, the Director of Allotted Lifespans subtracts days and sometimes years from their allotted lifespan. This method allows a person to live out the entirety of their allotted lifespan and avoid the agents of death. But the body still has to be transformed into an immortal one, hence the phrase {{zhp|c=先死後脱|p=xiānsǐ hòutuō}} – "The 'death' is apparent, [but] the sloughing off of the body's mortality remains to be done."
There are three levels of ''Shījiě'' immortals:
<blockquote>{{zhp|c=地下主 |p=Dìxià zhǔ}} – "Agents Beneath the Earth" – in charge of keeping the peace within the Chinese underworld. They are eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality after 280 years of faithful service.</blockquote>
<blockquote>{{zhp|c=地上主者|p=Dìshàng zhǔ zhě}} – "Agents Above the Earth" – given magic talismans which prolong their lives (but not indefinitely) and allow them to heal the sick and exorcize demons and evil spirits from the earth. This level was ''not'' eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality.</blockquote>
<blockquote>{{zhp|c=制地君|p=Zhì dì jūn}} – "Lords Who Control the Earth" – a heavenly decree ordered them to "disperse all subordinate junior demons, whether high or low [in rank], that have cause afflictions and injury owing to blows or offenses against the Motion of the Year, the Original Destiny, Great Year, the Kings of the Soil or the establishing or breaking influences of the chronograms of the tome. Annihilate them all." This level was also ''not'' eligible for promotion to immortality.</blockquote>
These titles were usually given to humans who had either not proven themselves worthy of or were not fated to become immortals. One such famous agent was Fei Changfang, who was eventually murdered by evil spirits because he lost his book of magic talismans. Some accounts describe immortals using this method to escape execution.{{sfn|Campany|2002|pp=52–60}}
==Translations== [[File:梦仙草堂图 The Thatched Hut of Dreaming of an Immortal 唐寅 Tang Yin.jpg|400px|thumb|''The Thatched Hut of Dreaming of an Immortal'', by Tang Yin.]] [[File:蝦蟇・鉄拐仙人図 曾我蕭白.jpg|thumbnail|right|260px|Painting of two xian, Iron-crutch Li of the Eight Immortals on the left releasing a bat and Liu Haichan on the right holding one of the Peaches of Immortality and accompanied by the three-legged toad, Jin Chan. By Soga Shōhaku ({{lang|zh|曾我蕭白}}), circa 1760.]] ''The Chinese word xian is translatable into English as:'' * (''in Daoist philosophy and cosmology'') spiritually immortal; transcendent human; celestial being * (''in Daoist religion and pantheon'') physically immortal; immortal person; an immortal; saint,<ref name=":18" /> one who is aligned with Heaven's mandate and does not suffer earthly desires or attachments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gesterkamp |first=Lennert |title=The Heavenly Court Daoist, Temple Painting in China, 1200–1400 |publisher=Lennert Gesterkamp |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-19023-8 |language=English}}</ref> * (''in Chinese alchemy'') alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques by turning shen to jing. ** (''or by extension'') alchemical, herbal, shi liao, or qigong methods for attaining immortality * (''in Chinese mythology'') wizard; magician; shaman; sorcerer * (''in popular Chinese literature'') genie; elf, fairy; nymph; ''xianjing'' ({{zhi|c=仙境|p=xiānjìng}}) is fairyland. * (''based on the folk etymology for the character ''xian [''{{lang|zh|italics=no|仙}}'']'', a compound of the characters for ''person'' and ''mountain) sage living high in the mountains; mountain-man; hermit; recluse * (''as a metaphorical modifier'') immortal [talent]; accomplished person; celestial [beauty]; marvelous; extraordinary *(in new-age conception) seeker who takes refuge in immortality (longevity for the realization of divinity); transcended person [self] recoded by the "higher self"; divine soul; fully established being *(in early Tang dynasty folk religion conception) immortal being part of a small spiritual cabal who had immortal lifespans and supernatural powers, and were enlightened to the works of heaven, which assigned everyone else to "gloomy underworld jails",<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Chua |first=Amy |title=Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance–and Why They Fall |publisher=Doubleday |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-385-51284-8 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=65 |oclc=123079516}}</ref> "a fiery underworld",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Huston |title=The World's Religions |title-link=The World's Religions |publisher=HarperSanFrancisco |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-06-250811-9 |edition=Revised and Updated |location=San Francisco |page=219 |author-link=Huston Smith}}</ref> and/or a mundane role in the afterlife<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=Immortality of the Spirit: Chinese Funerary Art from the Han & Tang Dynasties |url=https://www.fairfield.edu/museum/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/immortality-of-the-spirit-chinese-funerary-art-from-the-han-tang-dynasties/index.html |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Fairfield University Art Museum |publisher=Fairfield University |archive-date=2023-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505204047/https://www.fairfield.edu/museum/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/immortality-of-the-spirit-chinese-funerary-art-from-the-han-tang-dynasties/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> depending on how positively one viewed the afterlife *(in Daoism and Chinese folk religion) a Daoist who was blessed to become immortal from death onwards<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=Huangdi |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huangdi |access-date=2023-05-22 |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> and/or a guardian of a village<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eberhard |first=Wolfram |title=A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=0-203-03877-0 |page=179 |translator-last=Campbell |translator-first=G. L. |author-link=Wolfram Eberhard}}</ref> *(in Chinese Buddhism and Buddhist-inspired Taoist sects) a kind of deity or spiritual person<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last1=Epstein |first1=Ron |author-link=Ron Epstein |last2=Society |first2=Buddhist Text Translation |date=June 2009 |title=The Shurangama Sutra Volume Seven |url=https://repstein.faculty.drbu.edu/Buddhism/Shurangama/ps.ss.02.v7.020526.screen.pdf |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=Professor Ron Epstein's Online Educational Resources |pages=197–207}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Zürcher |first=Erik |date=1980 |title=Buddhist Influence on Early Taoism: A Survey of Scriptural Evidence |journal=T'oung Pao |volume=66 |issue=1/3 |page=109 |doi=10.1163/156853280X00039 |jstor=4528195 |issn=0082-5433 }}</ref> imported from Taoism *(in Confucianism within some imperial courts and folk religion practice that believes in the three teachings) an ideal existence often associated with cult images made from bronze and with "everlasting life" that is synonymous with and a part of ''tian'' or an afterlife that combines elements of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, a higher reality (variably a yin-yang realm or a mountain world beyond reality that created jade that manifests in the real world), the Tao and the forces of nature, or existence itself or a being that a deceased person's soul should become<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Scarpari |first=Maurizio |title=Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from the Origins to the Tang Dynasty |publisher=Barnes & Noble |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7607-8379-5 |location=New York |pages=63, 88, 97, 99, 101, 172, 197 |translator-last=Milan |translator-first=A.B.A.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bradeen |first1=Ryan |last2=Johnson |first2=Jean |date=Fall 2005 |title=Using Monkey to Teach Religions of China |url=https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/cosmos/main/using_monkey.pdf |journal=Education About Asia |publisher=Columbia University |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=40–41}}</ref><ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stevens |first=Keith |title=Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons |date=1997 |publisher=Collins and Brown |isbn=978-1-85028-409-3 |location=London |pages=53, 66, 70}}</ref> *(in Fujian Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religion) a boddhisatva, a person who is on the path like Gautama Buddha or a being of comparable holiness and power over nature to one, or a type of god worshipped in temples<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Kenneth |title=Taoist Ritual and Popular Cults of Southeast China |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-691-07417-7 |editor-last=Laznovsky |editor-first=Bill |edition= |series= |location=Princeton, New Jersey |pages=90, 147–148 |author-link=Kenneth Dean (academic)}}</ref> *(in Korean Taoist-inspired new religions) a being subservient to heaven that helps humans<ref name=":20">{{Cite web |script-title=ko:각세도(覺世道) |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0000459 |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Encyclopedia of Korean Culture |language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ko:성도교(性道敎) |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0029275 |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Encyclopedia of Korean Culture |language=ko}}</ref>
==Etymology== [[File:飞仙.JPG|thumb|Flying ''xian'' motifs, shown on the technical treastise Yingzao Fashi.]]
The etymology of ''xian'' remains uncertain. The ''Shiming'' (c. 200 CE), a Chinese dictionary of wordplay etymologies, defines ''xiān'' (仙) as "to get old and not die," explained as someone who ''qiān'' ({{Zh-no-labels|t=遷|lit=|l="moves into"}}) the mountains.
Its writing is a combination of ''ren'' ({{zhi|c=人|p=rén|l=human|out=}}) and ''shan'' ({{zhi|c=山|p=shān|l=mountain|out=}}). Its historical form is ''xian'' ({{Zh-no-labels|c=僊|p=xiān}}) a combination of ''ren'' ({{zhi|c=人|p=rén|l=human|out=}}) and ''qian'' ({{zhi|c=遷/䙴|p=qiān|l=moving into|out=}}).
''Xian'' is often used as Chinese compound, such as the ''Baxian'' ({{Zh-no-labels|p=Bāxiān|c=八仙|l=Eight Immortals}}). Other common words include ''xianren'' ({{Zh-no-labels|p=xiānrén|c=仙人|l=immortal person; transcendent}}),{{refn|group=Notes|name=b|see Xianren Cave}} ''xianrenzhang'' ({{Zh-no-labels|p=xiānrénzhǎng|c=仙人掌|l=immortal's palm|tr=cactus}}), ''xiannü'' ({{Zh-no-labels|l=immortal woman; female celestial; angel|p=xiān nǚ}}), and ''shenxian'' ({{Zh-no-labels|c=神仙|l=gods and immortals|p=shénxiān}}).
Edward H. Schafer{{r|Schafer1966_204}} defined ''xian'' as "a transcendent, sylph-like being who, through alchemical, gymnastic and other disciplines, achieved a refined and possibly immortal body, able to fly beyond the material world and subsist on air and dew." Schafer noted ''xian'' was cognate to {{zhp|p=xian|c=䙴|tr=soar up}}, {{zhp|p=qian|c=遷|tr=remove}}, and {{zhp|p=xianxian|c=僊僊|tr=a flapping dance movement}}; and compared Chinese {{zhp|p=yuren|c=羽人|tr=feathered man; xian}} with English peri "a fairy or supernatural being in Persian mythology" (Persian pari from ''par'' "feather; wing").
Two linguistic hypotheses for the etymology of {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xian}} involve Arabic and Sino-Tibetan languages. Wu and Davis suggested the source was ''jinn'', or ''jinni'' "genie" (from Arabic ''جني'' ''jinnī'').{{r|WuDavis1935_224}} "The marvelous powers of the ''Hsien'' are so like those of the ''jinni'' of the Arabian Nights that one wonders whether the Arabic word, ''jinn'', may not be derived from the Chinese ''Hsien''." Axel Schuessler's etymological dictionary{{r|Schuessler2007_527}} proposes a Sino-Tibetan connection between ''xiān'' (Old Chinese *san or *''sen, "an immortal; men and women who attain supernatural abilities and, after death, become immortals and deities able to fly") and Classical Tibetan gšen < g-syen ("shaman, one with supernatural abilities, including flight").''
===The character and its variants=== [[File:仙-bw.png|thumb|Stroke order for {{zhp|xian|c=仙}}]] [[File:Pavilions in the Mountains of the Immortals by Qiu Ying.jpg|200px|thumb|''Pavilions in the Mountains of Immortals'', by Qiu Ying]] The word {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}} is written with three characters ({{linktext|lang=zh|僊}}, {{linktext|lang=zh|仙}}, or {{linktext|lang=zh|仚}}) which combine the logographic radical ''ren'' ({{zhi|c=人/亻|tr=person; human}}) with two phonetic elements (see Chinese character classification). The oldest recorded ''xian'' character ({{Zh-no-labels|t=僊}}) includes a ''qian'' ({{Zh-no-labels|c=䙴|l=rise up; ascend|p=qiān}}) phonetic, reflecting the idea that immortals could "ascend into the heavens". (Compare {{zhi|p=qiān|c=遷|tr=move; transfer; change}} combining this phonetic and the motion radical.) The usual modern {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}} character ({{lang|zh|仙}}), and its rare variant ({{lang|zh|仚}}), have a {{zhp|p=shān|c=山|tr=mountain}} phonetic. For a character analysis, Schipper interprets "'the human being of the mountain,' or alternatively, 'human mountain'.{{r|Schipper1993_164}} The two explanations are appropriate to these beings: they haunt the holy mountains, while also embodying nature."
The ''Classic of Poetry'' (220/3) contains the oldest occurrence of the character ''xian'' ({{lang|zh|僊}}), reduplicated as {{zhp|p=xiānxiān|c=僊僊|tr=dance lightly; hop about; jump around}}, and rhymed with {{zhi|p=qiān|c=遷|out=p}}. "But when they have drunk too much, Their deportment becomes light and frivolous—They leave their seats, and [{{lang|zh|遷}}] go elsewhere, They keep [{{lang|zh|僊僊}}] dancing and capering." (tr. James Legge){{r|CanonDesPoèmes_II7220}} Needham and Wang suggest {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}} was cognate with {{zhp|p=wu|c=巫|tr=shamanic dancing}}.{{r|NeedhamWang1956_134}} Paper writes: "The function of the term ''xiān'' in a line describing dancing may be to denote the height of the leaps. Since "to live for a long time" has no etymological relation to ''xiān'', it may be a later accretion."{{r|Paper1995_55}}
The 121 CE ''Shuowen Jiezi'', the first important dictionary of Chinese characters, does not enter ''xian'' ({{lang|zh|仙}}) except in the definition for {{zhi|c={{linktext|偓佺}} |p=Wòquán|tr=name of an ancient immortal|out=p}}. It defines ''xian'' ({{lang|zh|僊}}) as "live long and move away" and ''xian'' ({{lang|zh|仚}}) as "appearance of a person on a mountaintop". {{clear}}
==History and textual references== [[File:Queen Mother of the West - Rubbing (山東嘉祥宋山).jpg|thumb|Han dynasty stone-relief of Xiwangmu, surrounded by winged or feathered Immortals, ''Yuren'' ({{lang|zh|羽人}})]] [[File:Feathered men depicted in the stone relief of the Han Dynasty unearthed in Xinjin, Sichuan Province.jpg|thumb|Han dynasty relief of feathered Immortals playing Liubo.]] Descriptions of ''xian'' ("immortals; transcendents") in Chinese texts vary according to historical changes in Daoist views on immortality.{{sfn|Welch|1957|pp=91}}
Early texts such as the Zhuangzi, Chuci, and Liezi used xiān and magical islands allegorically to describe spiritual immortality. They sometimes employed the term ''yuren'' ({{Zh-no-labels|c=羽人|l="feathered person";}}; later also meaning "Daoist"{{refn|group=Notes|name=a|Daoist ascension to immortality is also called "{{lang|zh|羽化登升}}" or "Becoming feather and ascending"}}) and associated immortals with motifs of feathers and flight, such as ''yuhua'' ({{Zh-no-labels|p=yǔhuà|c=羽化}}), with "feather; wing".<ref name=":0" /><ref>({{zhi|c=圖仙人之形，體生毛，臂變為翼，行於雲，則年增矣，千歲不死。|tr=In representing the bodies of {{bracket|xian}} one gives them a plumage, and their arms are changed into wings with which they poise in the clouds. This means an extension of their lifetime. They are believed not to die for a thousand years.}}''Lunheng''; "vol. 7" "chapter 27"[https://web.archive.org/web/20220703184511/http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=xwomen/texts/lunheng.xml&style=xwomen/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&chunk.id=d2.31&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d2.5&doc.lang=bilingual p. 27] of 118</ref>
Later texts such as the Shenxian Zhuan and Baopuzi treated immortality literally, describing esoteric alchemical practices aimed at physical longevity. Neidan ("internal alchemy") included taixi ("embryonic respiration"), breath control, meditation, visualization, sexual training and daoyin exercises (later evolving into qigong and tai chi). Waidan ("external alchemy") emphasized recipes involving magical plants, rare minerals, herbal medicines, drugs and dietary regimens such as inedia.
Besides the following major Chinese texts, many others use both graphic variants of {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}}. {{zhp|p=Xian|c=仙}} occurs in the ''Chunqiu Fanlu'', ''Fengsu Tongyi'', ''Qian fu lun'', ''Fayan'', and ''Shenjian''; {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}} ({{Zh-no-labels|c=僊}}) occurs in the ''Caizhong langji'', ''Fengsu Tongyi'', ''Guanzi'', and ''Shenjian''.
They are most commonly found in Daoist texts, although some Buddhist sources also mention them. Chinese folk religion likewise includes such figures, for example in Northeast China with the fox gods, or huxian, that are common in the region.
The Three Sovereigns had similarities to {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}} because of some of their supernatural abilities and could have been considered such.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} Upon his death, the Yellow Emperor was "said to have become" a {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}}.<ref name=":11" />
During the Six Dynasties, {{tlit|zh|pinyin|xiān}} were a common subject of ''zhiguai'' stories.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Gershon |first=Livia |date=2022-02-22 |title=The Trouble with Immortality |url=https://daily.jstor.org/the-trouble-with-immortality/ |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=JSTOR Daily |publisher=JSTOR |language=en-US}}</ref> They often had "magical" Tao powers including the abilities to "walk ... through walls or stand ... in light without casting a shadow."<ref name=":12" />
===''Zhuangzi''=== Two circa 3rd century BCE "Outer Chapters" of the ''Zhuangzi'' ("[Book of] Master Zhuang") use the archaic character {{zhp|p=xian|c=僊}}. Chapter 11 has a parable about "Cloud Chief" ({{zhi|c=雲將|p=Yún jiàng}}) and "Big Concealment" ({{zhi|c=鴻濛|p=Hóngméng}}) that uses the ''Shijing'' compound ''xianxian'' ("dance; jump"): <blockquote>Big Concealment said, "If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Instead, the beasts will scatter from their herds, the birds will cry all night, disaster will come to the grass and trees, misfortune will reach even to the insects. Ah, this is the fault of men who 'govern'!"<br />"Then what should I do?" said Cloud Chief.<br />"Ah," said Big Concealment, "you are too far gone! [{{zhi|c=僊僊|p=Xiān xiān}}] Up, up, stir yourself and be off!"<br />Cloud Chief said, "Heavenly Master, it has been hard indeed for me to meet with you—I beg one word of instruction!"<br />"Well, then—mind‑nourishment!" said Big Concealment. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root—return to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaos—to the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. "Things will naturally end of themselves."<br />Cloud Chief said, "The Heavenly Master has favored me with this Virtue, instructed me in this Silence. All my life I have been looking for it, and now at last I have it!" He bowed his head twice, stood up, took his leave, and went away. (11){{sfn|Watson|1968|pp=122–3}}</blockquote>
Chapter 12 uses ''xian'' in a passage where the mythical Emperor Yao Yao describes a ''shengren'' ({{Zh-no-labels|t=聖人|l="sagely person"|p=shèngrén|s=圣人}}). <blockquote>The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight who leaves no trail behind. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. And after a thousand years, should he weary of the world, he will leave it and [{{lang|zh|上}}] ascend to [{{lang|zh|僊}}] the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God. (12){{sfn|Watson|1968|p=130}}</blockquote>
Although not using the term xian, several passages in the Zhuangzi employ imagery associated with immortals, such as flying in the clouds. For example, Chapter 1 of the "Inner Chapters," composed around the 3rd century BCE, presents two portrayals. The first is this description of Liezi: <blockquote>Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on? Therefore, I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. (1){{sfn|Watson|1968|p=32}} </blockquote>
The second is a description of a ''shenren'' ({{Zh-no-labels|c=神人|l="divine person"}}). <blockquote>He said that there is a Holy Man living on faraway [{{lang|zh|姑射}}] Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn't eat the five grains, but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the Four Seas. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. (1){{sfn|Watson|1968|p=33}} </blockquote>
The authors of the ''Zhuangzi'' had a lyrical view of life and death, seeing them as complementary aspects of natural changes. This is antithetical to the physical immortality ({{zhi|c=長生不老|p=chángshēng bùlǎo |tr=live forever and never age}}) sought by later Daoist alchemists. One well-known passage illustrates this attitude toward accepting death:) <blockquote>Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singing—this is going too far, isn't it?"
Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter."<br />"Now she's going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. So I stopped. (18){{sfn|Watson|1968|pp=191–2}} </blockquote>
Alan Fox offers the following interpretation of this anecdote about Zhuangzi's wife: <blockquote>Many conclusions can be reached on the basis of this story, but it seems that death is regarded as a natural part of the ebb and flow of transformations which constitute the movement of Dao. To grieve over death, or to fear one's own death, for that matter, is to arbitrarily evaluate what is inevitable. This interpretation is somewhat ironic, since much of the later Daoist tradition sought longevity and immortality, drawing several of its models from the Zhuangzi.{{r|Fox1995_100}} </blockquote>
===''Chuci''=== [[File:羽人 曾侯乙墓内4宫漆画局部 战国木胎漆绘 湖北省博物馆藏此画1978年出土于湖北随县.jpg|thumb|Winged guardian spirit on the side of lacquer coffin in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, Eastern Zhou dynasty]] thumb|{{zhp|p=Yuren|c=羽人}}) found on {{ill|the bronze-drum from Shizhai mountain|zh|石寨山型铜鼓}} thumb|Two pages from "Li sao" from a 1645 illustrated copy of the ''Chuci'' The 3rd–2nd century BCE {{zhi|p=Chuci|tr=Lyrics of Chu}} anthology of poems uses {{zhi|p=xian|c=仙|out=p}} once and {{zhi|p=xian|c=僊|out=p}} twice, reflecting the disparate origins of the text. These three contexts mention the legendary Daoist ''xian'' immortals Chi Song ''(''{{zhi|p=Chìsòng|c=赤松|tr=Red Pine|out=}}),{{r|Kohn1993_1424}} and Wang Qiao ({{lang|zh|王僑}}) or Zi Qiao ({{lang|zh|子僑}}). In later Daoist hagiography, Chi Song was described as Lord of Rain under Shennong, the legendary inventor of agriculture. Wang Qiao, a son of King Ling of Zhou (r. 571–545 BCE), was said to have flown away on a giant white bird, becoming an immortal who was never seen again.
====''Yuan You''==== The "''Yuan You''" ("Far-off Journey") poem describes a spiritual journey into the realms of gods and immortals, frequently referring to Daoist myths and techniques. <blockquote>My spirit darted forth and did not return to me,<br />And my body, left tenantless, grew withered and lifeless.<br />Then I looked into myself to strengthen my resolution,<br />And sought to learn from where the primal spirit issues.<br />In emptiness and silence I found serenity;<br />In tranquil inaction I gained true satisfaction.<br />I heard how once Red Pine had washed the world's dust off:<br />I would model myself on the pattern he had left me.<br />I honoured the wondrous powers of the [{{lang|zh|真人}}] Pure Ones,<br />And those of past ages who had become [{{lang|zh|仙}}] Immortals.<br />They departed in the flux of change and vanished from men's sight,<br />Leaving a famous name that endures after them.{{sfn|Hawkes|1985|p=194}} </blockquote>
====''Xi shi''==== The "''Xi shi''" ("Sorrow for Troth Betrayed") resembles the "''Yuan You''", and both reflect Daoist ideas from the Han period. "Though unoriginal in theme," says Hawkes, "its description of air travel, written in a pre-aeroplane age, is exhilarating and rather impressive."{{sfn|Hawkes|1985|p=239}} <blockquote>We gazed down of the Middle Land [China] with its myriad people<br />As we rested on the whirlwind, drifting about at random.<br />In this way we came at last to the moor of Shao-yuan:<br />There, with the other blessed ones, were Red Pine and Wang Qiao.<br />The two Masters held zithers tuned in perfect concord:<br />I sang the Qing Shang air to their playing.<br />In tranquil calm and quiet enjoyment,<br />Gently I floated, inhaling all the essences.<br />But then I thought that this immortal life of [{{lang|zh|僊}}] the blessed,<br />Was not worth the sacrifice of my home-returning.{{sfn|Hawkes|1985|p=240}} </blockquote>
====''Ai shi ming''==== The “{{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|Ai shi ming}}” ("Alas That My Lot Was Not Cast") describes a celestial journey similar to the previous two. <blockquote>Far and forlorn, with no hope of return:<br />Sadly I gaze in the distance, over the empty plain.<br />Below, I fish in the valley streamlet;<br />Above, I seek out [{{lang|zh|僊}}] holy hermits.<br />I enter into friendship with Red Pine;<br />I join Wang Qiao as his companion. We send the Xiao Yang in front to guide us;<br />The White Tiger runs back and forth in attendance.<br />Floating on the cloud and mist, we enter the dim height of heaven;<br />Riding on the white deer we sport and take our pleasure.{{sfn|Hawkes|1985|p=266}} </blockquote>
====''Li Sao''==== The "''Li Sao''" ("On Encountering Trouble"), the most famous ''Chuci'' poem, is usually interpreted as describing ecstatic flights and trance techniques of Chinese shamans. The above three poems are variations describing Daoist ''xian''.
Some other ''Chuci'' poems refer to immortals with synonyms of ''xian''. For instance, {{zhp|p=Shou zhi|c=守志|tr=Maintaining Resolution}} uses {{zhp|p=zhenren|c=真人|l=true person}} translated to Pure Ones above in "''Yuan You''", which Wang Yi's commentary glosses as {{zhp|p=zhen xianren|c=真仙人|tr=true immortal person}} <blockquote>I visited Fu Yue, bestriding a dragon,<br />Joined in marriage with the Weaving Maiden,<br />Lifted up Heaven's Net to capture evil,<br />Drew the Bow of Heaven to shoot at wickedness,<br />Followed the [{{lang|zh|真人}}[ Immortals fluttering through the sky,<br />Ate of the Primal Essence to prolong my life.{{sfn|Hawkes|1985|p=318}} </blockquote>
===Han dynasty ''xian'' texts=== [[File:嫦娥奔月.png|thumb|Han dynasty pictorial brick of Chang'e]] [[File:Mural of a tomb of the Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang in Jingbian County, Shaanxi (ceiling, detail).png|thumb|Mural showing heavenly beings riding on chariot driven by dragons, of a tomb of the Xin dynasty in Jingbian County, Shaanxi.]] In at least the latter two centuries of the Han dynasty, the idea of becoming a ''xian'' received more popularity than in previous eras of Chinese religion.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Pang |first=Mae Anna |date=2013-01-30 |title=In search of immortality: provisions for the afterlife |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/in-search-of-immortality-provisions-for-the-afterlife/ |journal=Art Journal of the National Gallery of Victoria |publisher=National Gallery of Victoria |volume=50 |issue=11}}</ref>
In ancient Chinese dynasties such as the Han, various gods were thought to be ''xian'' instead in some retellings of their mythology. Hou Yi was one example of this.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ni |first=Xueting C. |title=Chinese Myths: From Cosmology and Folklore to Gods and Immortals |publisher=Amber Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-83886-263-3 |location=London |page=132}}</ref>''
===''Liezi''=== The ''Liezi'' ("[Book of] Master Lie"), which Louis Komjathy suggests{{sfn|Komjathy|2004|p=36}} was compiled in the 3rd century CE (though it contains earlier material), uses ''xian'' four times, always in the compound ''xiansheng'' ({{Zh-no-labels|t=仙聖|l="immortal sage"|s=仙圣|p=xiānshèng}}).
Nearly half of Chapter 2 ("The Yellow Emperor") comes from the ''Zhuangzi'', including this recounting of the above fable about Mount Gushe ({{lang|zh|姑射}}, or Guye, or Miao Gushe {{lang|zh|藐姑射}}). <blockquote>The Ku-ye mountains stand on a chain of islands where the Yellow River enters the sea. Upon the mountains there lives a Divine Man, who inhales the wind and drinks the dew, and does not eat the five grains. His mind is like a bottomless spring, his body is like a virgin's. He knows neither intimacy nor love, yet [{{lang|zh|仙聖}}] immortals and sages serve him as ministers. He inspires no awe, he is never angry, yet the eager and diligent act as his messengers. He is without kindness and bounty, but others have enough by themselves; he does not store and save, but he himself never lacks. The Yin and Yang are always in tune, the sun and moon always shine, the four seasons are always regular, wind and rain are always temperate, breeding is always timely, the harvest is always rich, and there are no plagues to ravage the land, no early deaths to afflict men, animals have no diseases, and ghosts have no uncanny echoes.{{sfn|Graham|1960|p=35}} </blockquote>
Chapter 5 uses ''xiansheng'' three times in a conversation set between the legendary rulers Tang of the Shang dynasty and Ji ({{lang|zh|革}}) of the Xia dynasty. <blockquote>T'ang asked again: 'Are there large things and small, long and short, similar and different?'<br />—'To the East of the Gulf of Chih-li, who knows how many thousands and millions of miles, there is a deep ravine, a valley truly without bottom; and its bottomless underneath is named "The Entry to the Void". The waters of the eight corners and the nine regions, the stream of the Milky Way, all pour into it, but it neither shrinks nor grows. Within it there are five mountains, called Tai-yü, Yüan-chiao, Fang-hu, Ying-chou and P'eng-Iai. These mountains are thirty thousand miles high, and as many miles round; the tablelands on their summits extend for nine thousand miles. It is seventy thousand miles from one mountain to the next, but they are considered close neighbours. The towers and terraces upon them are all gold and jade, the beasts and birds are all unsullied white; trees of pearl and garnet always grow densely, flowering and bearing fruit which is always luscious, and those who eat of it never grow old and die. The men who dwell there are all of the race of [{{lang|zh|仙聖}}] immortal sages, who fly, too many to be counted, to and from one mountain to another in a day and a night. Yet the bases of the five mountains used to rest on nothing; they were always rising and falling, going and returning, with the ebb and flow of the tide, and never for a moment stood firm. The [{{lang|zh|仙聖}}] immortals found this troublesome, and complained about it to God. God was afraid that they would drift to the far West and he would lose the home of his sages. So he commanded Yü-ch'iang to make fifteen [{{lang|zh|鼇}}] giant turtles carry the five mountains on their lifted heads, taking turns in three watches, each sixty thousand years long; and for the first time the mountains stood firm and did not move.<br />'But there was a giant from the kingdom of the Dragon Earl, who came to the place of the five mountains in no more than a few strides. In one throw he hooked six of the turtles in a bunch, hurried back to his country carrying them together on his back, and scorched their bones to tell fortunes by the cracks. Thereupon two of the mountains, Tai-yü and Yüan-chiao, drifted to the far North and sank in the great sea; the [{{lang|zh|仙聖}}] immortals who were carried away numbered many millions. God was very angry, and reduced by degrees the size of the Dragon Earl's kingdom and the height of his subjects. At the time of Fu-hsi and Shen-nung, the people of this country were still several hundred feet high.'{{sfn|Graham|1960|pp=97–8}} </blockquote>
Penglai Mountain became the most famous of these five mythical peaks where the elixir of life supposedly grew, and is known as Horai in Japanese legends. The first emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on expeditions to find these plants of immortality. He never returned, although some accounts claim he discovered Japan.
Holmes Welch analyzed the beginnings of Daoism, sometime around the 4th–3rd centuries BCE, from four separate streams: philosophical Daoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi), a "hygiene school" that cultivated longevity through breathing exercises and yoga, Chinese alchemy and Five Elements philosophy, and those who sought Penglai and elixirs of "immortality".{{sfn|Welch|1957|pp=88–97}} This is what he concludes about ''xian''. <blockquote>It is my own opinion, therefore, that though the word ''hsien'', or Immortal, is used by Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu, and though they attributed to their idealized individual the magic powers that were attributed to the ''hsien'' in later times, nonetheless the ''hsien'' ideal was something they did not believe in—either that it was possible or that it was good. The magic powers are allegories and hyperboles for the ''natural'' powers that come from identification with Tao. Spiritualized Man, P'eng-lai, and the rest are features of a ''genre'' which is meant to entertain, disturb, and exalt us, not to be taken as literal hagiography. Then and later, the philosophical Taoists were distinguished from all other schools of Taoism by their rejection of the pursuit of immortality. As we shall see, their books came to be adopted as scriptural authority by those who did practice magic and seek to become immortal. But it was their misunderstanding of philosophical Taoism that was the reason they adopted it.{{sfn|Welch|1957|p=95}} </blockquote>
===''Shenxian zhuan''=== [[File:Southern Dynasties Brick Relief 17.jpg|thumb|Flying immortals on Liu Song dynasty stone-relief]] The {{zhp|p=Shenxian zhuan|c=神仙傳|tr=Biographies of Spirit Immortals}} is a hagiography of ''xian''. Although it was traditionally attributed to Ge Hong (283–343 CE), Komjathy says,{{sfn|Komjathy|2004|p=43}} "The received versions of the text contain some 100-odd hagiographies, most of which date from 6th–8th centuries at the earliest."
According to the ''Shenxian zhuan'', there are four schools of immortality:
{{zhp|p=Qi|c=气|tr=energy|l=breath, air}}: Breath control and meditation. Practitioners of this school were believed to be able to:
<blockquote>"...blow on water and it will flow against its own current for several paces; blow on fire, and it will be extinguished; blow at tigers or wolves, and they will crouch down and not be able to move; blow at serpents, and they will coil up and be unable to flee. If someone is wounded by a weapon, blow on the wound, and the bleeding will stop. If you hear of someone who has suffered a poisonous insect bite, even if you are not in his presence, you can, from a distance, blow and say in incantation over your own hand (males on the left hand, females on the right), and the person will at once be healed even if more than a hundred li away. And if you yourself are struck by a sudden illness, you have merely to swallow pneumas in three series of nine, and you will immediately recover.<br />But the most essential thing [among such arts] is fetal breathing. Those who obtain [the technique of] fetal breathing become able to breathe without using their nose or mouth, as if in the womb, and this is the culmination of the way [of pneumatic cultivation]."{{sfn|Campany|2002|p=21}} </blockquote>
{{zhp|p=Fàn|c=饭|tr=diet|t=飯}}: The ingestion of herbal compounds and abstention from the Sān Shī Fàn ({{Zh-no-labels|s=三尸饭|l="Three-Corpses food"|t=三屍飯}}), which included meats (raw fish, pork, dog), leeks, scallions and grains. <blockquote>"During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black hair. Upon seeing this person, the hunters wanted to pursue and capture him, but the person leapt over gullies and valleys as if in flight, and so could not be overtaken. [But after being surrounded and captured, it was discovered this person was a 200 plus year old woman, who had once been a concubine of Qin Emperor Ziying. When he had surrendered to the 'invaders of the east', she fled into the mountains where she learned to subside on 'the resin and nuts of pines' from an old man. Afterwards, this diet 'enabled [her] to feel neither hunger nor thirst; in winter [she] was not cold, in summer [she] was not hot.']<br />The hunters took the woman back in. They offered her grain to eat. When she first smelled the stink of grain, she vomited, and only after several days could she tolerate it. After little more than two years of this [diet], her body hair fell out; she turned old and died. Had she not been caught by men, she would have become a transcendent."{{sfn|Campany|2002|pp=22–3}} </blockquote>
[[Image:Changchun-Temple-Small-statue-0301.jpg|thumb|Hé and Hé ({{lang|zh|和}} {{lang|zh|合}}), the two "Immortals of Harmony and Unity", associated with happy marriage, depicted in Changchun Temple, a Taoist temple in Wuhan]]
{{zhp|p=Fángzhōng Zhī Shù|c=|tr=Arts of the Bedchamber|s=房中之术|t=房中之術}}: Sexual yoga.{{sfn|Campany|2002|pp=30–1}} According to a discourse between the Yellow Emperor and the immortaless {{zhp|p=Sùnǚ|c=素女|tr=Plain Girl}}, one of the three daughters of Hsi Wang Mu, <blockquote> "The sexual behaviors between a man and woman are identical to how the universe itself came into creation. Like Heaven and Earth, the male and female share a parallel relationship in attaining an immortal existence. They both must learn how to engage and develop their natural sexual instincts and behaviors; otherwise the only result is decay and traumatic discord of their physical lives. However, if they engage in the utmost joys of sensuality and apply the principles of yin and yang to their sexual activity, their health, vigor, and joy of love will bear them the fruits of longevity and immortality.{{r|Hsi2002_99100}} </blockquote>
The ''White Tigress Manual'', a treatise on female sexual yoga, states: <blockquote> "A female can completely restore her youthfulness and attain immortality if she refrains from allowing just one or two men in her life from stealing and destroying her [sexual] essence, which will only serve in aging her at a rapid rate and bring about an early death. However, if she can acquire the sexual essence of a thousand males through absorption, she will acquire the great benefits of youthfulness and immortality."{{r|Hsi2001_48}} </blockquote>
Ge Hong wrote in his book ''The Master Who Embraces Simplicity'', <blockquote>The immortals Dark Girl and Plain Girl compared sexual activity as the intermingling of fire [yang/male] and water [yin/female], claiming that water and fire can kill people but can also regenerate their life, depending on whether or not they know the correct methods of sexual activity according to their nature. These arts are based on the theory that the more females a man copulates with, the greater benefit he will derive from the act. Men who are ignorant of this art, copulating with only one or two females during their life, will only suffice to bring about their untimely and early death.{{r|Hsi2001_48}} </blockquote>
{{zhp|p=Dān|c=丹|tr=alchemy|l=cinnabar}}: Elixir of Immortality.{{sfn|Campany|2002|p=31}}
===''Śūraṅgama Sūtra''=== thumb|The supposed "footprint of a ''xian''", a little pond in Guangzhou's Temple of the Five Immortals
The ''Śūraṅgama Sūtra'', a Mahayana Buddhist manuscript, in a borrowing from Taoist teachings, discusses the characteristics of ten types of ''xian'' who exist between the world of devas ("gods") and that of human beings.<ref name=":6" /> This position in Buddhist literature is usually occupied by asuras. ''Xian'' as portrayed here are of a different and contrasting type of existence in Buddhist cosmology to asuras.{{Explain|reason=What does this mean exactly?|date=May 2023}} These ''xian'' are not considered true cultivators of ''samadhi'' ("unification of mind"), as their methods differ from the practice of ''dhyāna'' ("meditation").
*{{zhp|c=地(行)仙|p=Dìxíng xiān|tr=earth-travelling immortals}} – ''Xian'' who constantly ingest special food called {{zhp|p=fuer|c=服餌}}. *{{zhp|c=飛(行)仙|p=Fēixíng xiān|tr=flying immortals}} – ''Xian'' who constantly ingest certain herbs and plants. *{{zhp|c=遊(行)仙|p=Yóuxíng xiān|tr=roaming immortals}} – ''Xian'' who "transform" by constantly ingesting metals and minerals. *{{zhp|c=空(行)仙|p=Kōngxíng xiān|tr=void-travelling immortals}} – ''Xian'' who perfect their ''qi'' and essence through unceasing movement and stillness {{zhp|p=dongzhi|c=動止}}. *{{zhp|c=天(行)仙|p=Tiānxíng xiān|tr=heaven-travelling immortals}} – ''Xian'' who constantly practice control of their fluids and saliva. *{{zhp|c=通(行)仙|p=Tōngxíng xiān|tr=all-penetrating immortals}} – ''Xian'' who constantly practice the inhalation of unadulterated essences. *{{zhp|c=道(行)仙|p=Dàoxíng xiān|tr=immortals of the Way}} – ''Xian'' who achieve transcendence through unceasing recitation of spells and prohibitions. *{{zhp|c=照(行)仙|p=Zhàoxíng xiān|tr=illuminated immortals}} – ''Xian'' who achieve transcendence through constant periods of thought and recollection. *{{zhp|c=精(行)仙|p=Jīngxíng xiān|tr=seminal immortals}} – ''Xian'' who have mastered the stimuli and responses of intercourse. *{{zhp|c=絕(行)仙|p=Juéxíng xiān|tr=absolute immortals}} – ''Xian'' who "have attained the end" and perfected their awakening through constant transformation.
==In religions== thumb|Painting of the Eight Immortals.
===Chinese folk religion=== In ancient Chinese folk religion, ''xian'' were regarded as deceased noblemen such as emperors and ancestors, as well as commoner "worthies".<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Helle |first=Horst J. |author-link=Horst Helle |date=2017 |chapter=Daoism: China's Native Religion |title=China: Promise or Threat?: A Comparison of Cultures |publisher=Brill |pages=75–76|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w8h29s.12 }}</ref> Taoism eventually altered this belief, promoting the idea of xian as holy humans either good or evil who could ascend to heaven by following practices that preserved the soul within the body while the physical body disappeared from Earth. This view became popular among folk religious practitioners.<ref name=":15" />
In 2005, roughly 8% of Chinese folk practitioners believed in "immortal souls".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2008-05-01 |title=Religion in China on the Eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2008/05/01/religion-in-china-on-the-eve-of-the-2008-beijing-olympics/ |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Taoism=== [[File:The mural of tomb no. 2 of the Eastern Han Dynasty at Yingchengzi, Jinxian County, Liaoning Province (north wall of the main chamber).png|thumb|Eastern Han dynasty mural of scholar-official and heavenly beings, from Tomb of Yingchengzi.]] Taoism is a polytheistic religion. Its pantheon includes both deities and immortals ({{Zh-no-labels|c=神仙}}), generally divided into two categories: "gods" (also called deities) and ''xian'' (immortals). Many kinds of gods exist, such as gods of heaven ({{lang|zh|天神}}), gods of the ground ({{lang|zh|地祇}}), ''wuling'' ({{Zh-no-labels|s=物灵|l=the spirit of things|tr=animism|t=物靈}}), gods of the netherworld ({{Zh-no-labels|s=地府神灵|t=地府神靈}}), gods of the human body ({{Zh-no-labels|t=人體之神|s=人体之神}}), and gods of human ghosts ({{lang|zh|人鬼之神}}). These gods are innately divine beings. In contrast, ''xian'' become persons with vast supernatural powers, unpredictable changes, and immortality through the culivation of the Dao.<ref>{{cite web |last1=武当山道教协会 |first1=武当山道教协会 |script-title=zh:道教神仙分类 |url=http://www.wdsdjxh.com/detail.php?id=51 |access-date=2024-01-28 |archive-date=2024-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126153241/http://www.wdsdjxh.com/detail.php?id=51 }}</ref> In China, "gods" are often referred to together with "''xian''".
Taoists sometimes shared with folk practitioners the belief that noblemen and ancestors could become ''xian'', although Taoism also developed alternative interpretations.<ref name=":15" />
Many Taoists believed that ''xian'' were spirits of human origin and that humans could themselves achieve this status. It was believed that they could become immortals by refining their bodies throughout their lives by taking drugs and/or performing the correct amount of good deeds and repentant acts to make up for bad deeds throughout their lives.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Stark |first=Rodney |title=Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief |publisher=HarperOne |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-06-117389-9 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=258–259, 261–262 |author-link=Rodney Stark}}</ref> Heaven, and therefore, status as an immortal, was also thought to be accessible through being an unenlightened soul in the afterlife that is prayed for in the collective salvation prayers of Taoist temple worshippers, who pray in the hope that souls will reach a better status in their death.<ref name=":17" />
==In art and culture== [[File:Album of 18 Daoist Paintings - 10.jpg|thumb|The red-crowned crane was a symbol of longevity and immortality. In art and literature, immortals are often depicted riding on cranes.|300x300px]] [[File:Feathered immortal from.jpg|thumb|Detail of a "feathered immortal" ({{lang|zh|羽人}}) riding a dragon on a mural from a late Western Han dynasty tomb in Xi'an]] [[File:Bronze Winged Immortal Han dynasty 鎏金铜羽人.jpg|thumb|Bronze Winged Immortal figure from Eastern Han dynasty.]] [[File:清緙絲群仙祝壽 軸2.png|thumb| ''Assembly of Immortals Offering Good Wishes for Long Life'', Ming-Qing dynasty painting.]] According to Michael Loewe, the earliest artistic and textual evidence of ''xian'' transcendents dates from the fifth or fourth centuries BCE. They were depicted as avian or serpentine hybrids capable of flight, usually as a bird's body with a human face, or as a human figure with wings sprouting from the back—known as yuren ({{Zh-no-labels|c=羽人|l="feathered person"}}).{{sfn|Loewe|1978|pp=110–111}}
According to John Lagerway, the earliest artistic representations of xian date from the 2nd century BCE.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lagerwey |first=John |date=2018-05-21 |title=Xian |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/asia/chinese-political-geography/xian |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
In tomb reliefs from the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE), xian are often shown as bird–human or reptile–human hybrids. They are depicted as "liminal but spiritually empowered figures' who accompanied a deceased soul to paradise. These "transient figures" are frequently portrayed alongside animals such as deer, tigers, dragons, birds, and heavenly horses ({{zhi|p=tianma|c=|t=天馬|s=天马}}).{{sfn|Wallace|2001|pp=1}} These avian, serpentine, and human hybrid ''xian'' are frequently depicted with "secondary characteristics" including androgyny, large ears, long hair, exaggerated nonhuman faces, tattoo-like markings and nudity; many of these traits also appear in depictions of foreigners, who also lived outside the Chinese cultural and spiritual sphere.{{sfn|Wallace|2001|p=79}}
''Xian'' were associated with yin and yang, and some Taoist sects held that the "adept of immortality" could get in touch with the "pure energies possessed at birth by every infant" to become a ''xian''.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last1=Carrasco |first1=David |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |last2=Warmind |first2=Morten |last3=Hawley |first3=John Stratton |last4=Reynolds |first4=Frank |last5=Giarardot |first5=Norman |last6=Neusner |first6=Jacob |last7=Pelikan |first7=Jaroslav |last8=Campo |first8=Juan |last9=Penner |first9=Hans |publisher=Merriam-Webster |editor=Wendy Doniger |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |page=1065 |language=en |author-link=David Carrasco |author-link4=Frank Reynolds (academic) |author-link6=Jacob Neusner |author-link7=Jaroslav Pelikan}}</ref> According to these beliefs, a Taoist who became a xian could live for 1,000 years in the human world before transforming into "pure yang energy" and ascending to Tiān (Heaven).<ref name=":05" />
In modern and historical times, ''xian'' are also thought to draw power and be created from the Tao in its aspect as "the source of all being, in which life and death are the same."<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Desk Encyclopedia of World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7394-7809-7 |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=Edmund |location=New York |page=365}}</ref>
Xian are conventionally regarded as benevolent spirits who bring good fortune.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hsien |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/hsien |website=Collins |series=Collins English Dictionary}}</ref> Some Taoists prayed to individual xian or entire pantheons of them for assistance in life or forgiveness of sins.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haw |first=Stephen G. |title=A Traveller's History of China |publisher=Interlink Books |others=Preface by Denis Judd |year=1998 |isbn=1-56656-257-0 |edition=First American |location=Brooklyn |page=89 |author-link=Stephen G. Haw}}</ref><ref name=":9" />
Refugee communities and their descendants, wanderers, and Taoists who were societal recluses inspired myths of "timeless" worlds where ''xian'' lived.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cleary |first=Thomas F. |title=The Essential Tao: An Initiation Into the Heart of Taoism Through the Authentic Tao Te Ching and the Inner Teachings of Chuang-Tzu |date=1998 |publisher=Castle Books |isbn=0-7858-0905-8 |location=Edison, New Jersey |pages=123–124 |oclc=39243466 |author-link=Thomas Cleary}}</ref> In many Taoist sects, ''xian'' were thought to "dress...in feathers" and live in the atmosphere "just off-planet" and explore various places in the universe to perform "various actions and miracles."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Forty |first=Jo |title=Mythology: A Visual Encyclopedia |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |year=2004 |isbn=0-7607-5518-3 |location=London |page=200}}</ref> A Confucian cosmology that had immortals in it viewed them as beings of a "heavenly world", which was "above the earthly world" that was distinct "from a dark underworld".<ref name=":42" />
Some mythical ''xian'' were worshipped and/or seen as gods or ''zhenren'',<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=xian |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/xian-Daoism |access-date=2023-04-23 |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=zhenren |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/zhenren |access-date=2023-04-23 |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":10027">{{Cite book |title=World Religions: Eastern Traditions |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor=Willard Gurdon Oxtoby |year=2002 |isbn=0-19-541521-3 |edition=2nd |location=Don Mills, Ontario |page=392 |oclc=46661540}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8">Robinet</ref> and some real Taoists were thought to become ''xian'' if they died after performing certain rituals or living a certain way and gain the ability to explore "heavenly realms".<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> These Taoists' spirits after death would be seen as divine entities that were synonymous with ''xian'',<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":100272">{{Cite book |title=World Religions: Eastern Traditions |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor=Willard Gurdon Oxtoby |year=2002 |isbn=0-19-541521-3 |edition=2nd |location=Don Mills, Ontario |page=395 |oclc=46661540}}</ref> and were often referred to by that name.<ref name=":100272" />
Becoming a ''xian'' was often seen as a heroic "quest" in Taoist mythos to either become as powerful as a god or multiple gods or gain an immortal lifespan like a god.<ref name=":10027" /> Given that many Taoists believed that their gods and gods belonging to different ethnic groups and other religions were subject to the roles the Tao made for them,<ref name=":024">{{Cite book |last=Harari |first=Yuval Noah |title=Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind |publisher=Penguin Random House UK |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-09-959008-8 |location=London |page=249 |translator-last=Harari |translator-first=Yuval Noah |oclc=910498369 |author-link=Yuval Noah Harari |translator-last2=Purcell |translator-first2=John |translator-last3=Watzman |translator-first3=Haim |translator-link=Yuval Noah Harari |translator-link3=Haim Watzman}}</ref> becoming a ''xian'' is technically a process that lets a practitioner get enough holy or spiritual power to defy that role,{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} and some Taoists chose to worship ''xian'' instead of gods,<ref name=":10027" /><ref name=":9" /> Some Taoists may have believed that a single ''xian'' was more powerful than entire pantheons of gods of China.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}{{Explain|date=May 2023}} Before and during the early Tang dynasty, beliefs about death that included ''xian'' were more notable among ordinary Chinese than their Buddhist counterparts, and some who were inclined towards Taoism or were part of a Taoist religious organization and believed in the existence of Buddhist deities believed that ''xian'', collectively, were more powerful and relevant than Buddhist gods.<ref name=":3" />
Some sects thought ''xian'' were more worthy to venerate than gods because of their admirable qualities or their being more powerful in only few specific ways, such as comprehension of some heavenly powers and/or the spiritual location they live in, while acknowledging their lack of strength and their typical place in the celestial hierarchy being below gods.<ref name=":025">{{Cite book |last1=Carrasco |first1=David |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |last2=Warmind |first2=Morten |last3=Hawley |first3=John Stratton |last4=Reynolds |first4=Frank |last5=Giarardot |first5=Norman |last6=Neusner |first6=Jacob |last7=Pelikan |first7=Jaroslav |last8=Campo |first8=Juan |last9=Penner |first9=Hans |publisher=Merriam-Webster |editor=Wendy Doniger |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |location=United States |page=1067 |language=en |author-link=David Carrasco |author-link4=Frank Reynolds (academic) |author-link6=Jacob Neusner |author-link7=Jaroslav Pelikan}}</ref><ref name=":9" />
During the Han dynasty and Tang dynasty, beliefs about ''xian'' and the process of becoming one were especially popular.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Chinese folk religion practitioners in the Tang dynasty,<ref name=":3" /> when Chinese religious traditions were more entrenched, drew symbols of immortality and paintings with Taoist symbolism on tombs so their family members could have a chance at becoming ''xian'',<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> and this happened in the Han dynasty as well<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> before some theological ideas that would become popular later on.
In Buddhist-inspired Taoism and Buddhist traditions that venerated Laozi and/or other Taoist icons, a minority of ''xian'' on Mount Kunlun and the wider world spoke Sanskrit<ref name=":7" /> and/or other foreign languages,{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} as it was seen as a sacred language<ref name=":7" /> and possibly because some xian were thought of as spirits of Indian origin or ascended humans from the same area or other parts of the world.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
A pseudo-Sanskrit language that was mixed with Chinese and was often random in its structure and mixture of the two called "the sounds of Brahmā-heaven" was also seen as another sacred language used as a liturgical language,<ref name=":7" /> and was frequently confused with Sanskrit. It was thought of as an important godly language that a Taoist version of Brahmā spoke and that some immortals also spoke to a lesser degree which was the embodiment of the Tao, "the esoteric sounds of the heavens", and "the beginning of the universe".<ref name=":7" /> The language also represented the harmonious relation between the gods, who Brahmā ruled over, and Indian and Buddhist philosophy thought to be transmitted by Laozi.<ref name=":7" />
[[File:Immortal in Splashed Ink.jpg|thumb|left|''Immortal in Splashed ink, by Liang Kai, Southern Song dynasty'']] In Japan, the image of the ''sennin'' appeared in many legends and artworks, such as miniature sculptures (netsuke). An 18th-century wooden netsuke depicts it shows a perplexed old man resting one hand on the curve of a snag while rubbing his head with the other. He gazes toward the sky with his right leg tucked up. This posture was commonly used to depict Sennin Tekkay whose soul was said to inhabit the body of a lame beggar. This legendary figure was also portrayed by Jobun, a prominent early carver. A similar humorous depiction of ''xian'' in China came in the form of Dongfang Shuo a deified Han dynasty scholar who was thought to be a "clown" ''xian'' after death.<ref name=":8" /> Legends about him also circulated in Japan and Korea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vos |first=Frits |date=1979 |title=Tung-fang Shuo, Buffoon and Immortal, in Japan and Korea |journal=Oriens Extremus |volume=26 |issue=1/2 |pages=189–203 |jstor=43383385 |issn=0030-5197}}</ref>
''Sennin'' is a common Japanese character name. For example, ''Ikkaku Sennin'' ({{lang|ja|一角仙人}} "One-horned Immortal") was a Noh play by Komparu Zenpō ({{lang|ja|金春禅鳳}}, 1454–1520?). The Japanese legend of Gama Sennin ({{lang|ja|蝦蟇仙人}} "Toad Immortal") is based upon Chinese Liu Hai, a fabled 10th-century alchemist who learned the secret of immortality from the Chan Chu ("Three-legged Money Toad").
In Korea, among commoners who belonged to no specific religious tradition, the desire to become an immortal, imported from China and Korean Taoist sects, mostly manifested itself in the wish for merely longer life instead of living forever.<ref name=":19">{{Cite book |title=A Handbook of Korea |date=December 1993 |publisher=Korean Overseas Culture and Information Service |isbn=978-1-56591-022-5 |edition=9th |location=Seoul |pages=133, 197}}</ref> Peaks and valleys were commonly named after the ''xian'', and Buddhist principles were also sometimes thought to be important to becoming one in Korea and art communities in Korea often approved of paintings of Taoist immortals and others depicting Buddhist symbolism.<ref name=":19" /> ''Xian'' were sometimes viewed as gods in Korea.<ref name=":20" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Amore |first1=Roy C. |title=World Religions: Eastern Traditions |last2=Hussain |first2=Amir |last3=Narayanan |first3=Vasudha |last4=Singh |first4=Pashaura |last5=Vallely |first5=Anne |last6=Woo |first6=Terry Tak-ling |last7=Nelson |first7=John K. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-542676-2 |editor-last=Oxtoby |editor-first=Willard Gurdon |edition=3rd |location=Donn Mills, Ontario |page=316 |author-link2=Amir Hussain |author-link3=Vasudha Narayanan |author-link4=Pashaura Singh (Sikh scholar) |editor-last2=Amore |editor-first2=Roy C.}}</ref> {{clear}}
==Depictions of ''xians'', ''sennins'' and ''tiên'' in art== === Gallery === {{Gallery |title= |width=200 | height=200 |align=center |state= |File:Warring States Lacquered Figure, Chu State (10162601104).jpg|Lacquered {{zhp|p=yuren|c=羽人}} figure on a toad stand from the Chu kingdom of the Warring States. |File:Warring States Lacquered Figure, Chu State (10162595504).jpg| |File:Immortal riding a deer, China, collected at Jiuchi, Pengzhou City, Eastern Han dynasty, 25-220 AD, tomb tile - Sichuan Provincial Museum - Chengdu, China - DSC04800.jpg| A Han dynasty stone-relief of Immortal and a deer rider. |File:Nuwafuxi3.jpg|Nüwa and Fuxi surrounded by other flying immortals, Han dynasty. |File:Nanyang-Xijiao-Qilingang-Xianren-cheng-gui-tu.jpg|An immortal riding a tortoise. A Han dynasty stone-relief rubbing. |File:四川省博物院館藏文物 026.jpg|Feathered Immortals playing Liubo. Han dynasty stone-relief. |File:Mural of a tomb of the Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang in Jingbian County, Shaanxi (ceiling, detail).png|Mural showing heavenly beings riding on chariot driven by dragons, of a tomb of the Xin dynasty in Jingbian County, Shaanxi. |File:The mural of tomb no. 2 of the Eastern Han Dynasty at Yingchengzi, Jinxian County, Liaoning Province (north wall of the main chamber).png|Eastern Han dynasty mural of scholar-official and heavenly beings, from Tomb of Yingchengzi.
|File:Yanju's tomb, ceiling featuring West sky and West KIng.jpg|Xiwangmu Dingjiazha Tomb No. 5, Northern Liang |File:Southern_Dynasties_Brick_Relief_17.jpg|Winged ''xian'' flying in the heavens, {{ill|Dengzhou painted stone-relief|zh|邓州南朝彩色画像砖}}, Liu Song dynasty. |File:Southern Dynasties Brick Relief 07.jpg|An immortal riding on a dragon, {{ill|Dengzhou painted stone-relief|zh|邓州南朝彩色画像砖}}, Liu Song dynasty. |File:Southern Dynasties Brick Relief 08.jpg|Two immortals, {{ill|Dengzhou painted stone-relief|zh|邓州南朝彩色画像砖}}, Liu Song dynasty. |File:Nine-colored deer jataka. Northern Wei. Mogao cave 257.jpg|Mogao Cave no. 257mural of the Nine-colored deer and a deity, Northern Wei dynasty |File:Moon Lute from Western Wei Dynasty 535-557, 285th Cave of Mogao Caves.jpg|Deity with Yueqin on Mogao Cave no.285 mural, Western Wei dynasty. |仙女乘鸾图页.jpg|Female Immortal riding a ''luán''-bird, Song dynasty |File:Immortal Riding a Dragon.jpg|''Immortal Riding a Dragon'' by Ma Yuan. Southern Song dynasty |File:瑶池献寿图，刘松年（传），南宋，西王母会周穆王，台北故宫.jpg|Painting of Xiwangmu meeting with a Chinese regent in the Jade Pond, likely King Mu of Zhou or Emperor Wu of Han, Song dynasty |File:宋人畫果老仙蹤 軸.png|''The Immortal Zhang Guolao at Repose'', Song dynasty |File:马远乘龙画.jpg|''Immortal riding a Dragon'', by Ma Yuan. |The Daoist immortal Lü Dongbin crossing Lake Dongting.jpeg|''The Daoist immortal Lü Dongbin crossing Lake Dongting'', Song dynasty |File:南宋 佚名-呂洞賓過岳陽樓圖 團扇-The Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion MET DP153513 CRD.jpg|''Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion'', Song dynasty
|file:元 佚名 倣夏永 呂洞賓過岳陽樓 冊頁-The Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion MET DP153541.jpg|''The Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion'', Yuan dynasty.
|MET 46 156 25 cons.jpg|Song dynasty brocade depicting the Moon Goddess Chang'e and Attendants
|File:仙女图轴.元人画.纸本设色.台北故宫博物院藏.tif|Female Immortal, unknown artist, Yuan dynasty. |File:Zhong Kui (Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi).jpg|Zhong Kui subduing a demon, unknown artist, Yuan dynasty. |File:Lü Dongbin Subduing a Demon.jpg|''Lü Dongbin Subduing a Demon'', unknown artist; formerly attributed to Li Gonglin, Ming dynasty. |File:Lü Dongbin confronts a dragon in The Flying Sword.png|Woodblock print of Lü Dongbin confronting a ''jiaolong''-dragon, from Deng Zhimo's ''The Flying Sword'' (飛劍記) |file:玉冈三仙图轴.png|Three Immortals, unknown artist, Ming dynasty. |File:Zhong Kui the Demon Queller with Five Bats.jpg|''Zhong Kui the Demon Queller with Five Bats'' from the Ming dynasty. |瑤池仙劇圖 (Gathering of Immortals) Ming dynasty painting British Museum.jpg|''Gathering of Immortals'', by Zhang Chong, Ming dynasty. |File:Chinese - The Eight Immortals - Walters 3535.jpg|Eight Immortals, unknown artist. |File:Album of 18 Daoist Paintings - 10.jpg |''The Daoist Immortal He Xiangu'' by Zhang Lu, early 16th century, Ming dynasty. |File:明顧繡八仙慶壽掛屏（五）李鐵柺 軸.tif|Ming dynasty painting of Li Tieguai |File:明顧繡八仙慶壽掛屏（十二）呂洞賓 軸.tif|Ming dynasty painting of Lü Dongbin |File:The Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin.jpg |''The Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin'', a painting from the Ming dynasty |File:Gu Jianlong Immortal Lü Dongbin.jpg|Immortal Lü Dongbin and Willow Deity, by Gu Jianlong, Ming dynasty |File:Guo Xu album dated 1503 (3).jpg|Drunken Immortal supported and escorted by a demon, by Guo Xu, Ming dynasty. |File:Album of 18 Daoist Paintings - 5.jpg|Liu Haichan with his Money Toad and string of cash, by Zhang Lu, early 16th century, Ming dynasty. |File:Dragon gods - Project Gutenberg eText 15250.jpg|''Xian'' riding dragons{{r|Werner1922}} |明顧繡八仙慶壽掛屏（十一）西池王母 軸.tif|Xiwangmu riding on a phoenix. |File:仙佛奇蹤 卷一 東王公.png |King Father of the East ({{lang|zh|東王公}}) |File:仙佛奇蹤_卷二_費長房.png |Fei Changfang ({{lang|zh|费长房}}). |File:Zhang Guo Lao.jpg|Zhang Guolao |File:He_Xiangu.jpg|He Xiangu |File:He He Erxian, by Wang Wen.jpg |He-He Er Xian as painted by Wang Wen, Ming dynasty |File:The Immortal Dongfang Shuo Stealing a Peach (東方朔偷桃) silk tapestry.jpg|Silk tapestry of Dongfang Shuo stealing a peach of immortality, Ming dynasty |File:四值功曹畫像.jpg |Ming dynasty Shuilu ritual painting of Four Time Guardians ({{lang|zh|四值功曹}}) |File:Long Corridor-嫦娥.JPG|Chang'e on caihua mural.
|File:飲中八仙図-Drinking Festival of the Eight Immortals MET DP-12232-258.jpg|Drinking Festival of the Eight Immortals, late 18th century, Japan. |File:金弘道群仙圖.jpg |Joseon painting of Taoist Immortals by Kim Hong-do. |File:Yoshitoshi - 100 Aspects of the Moon - 40-2.jpg |Zhinü and Niulang, by the Japanese painter Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. |File:Сэннин с посохом.jpg |''Sennin'' with his staff, carver Jobun, 18th century, wood, height 80 mm |File:Liu Jun-Liu Hai and Chan Chu.jpg |Liu Hai carrying a Chan Chu (three legged toad) |File:Battien1.jpg|Lacquer painting of the four ''tiên'' (immortals), 16th century, Vietnam |File:Battien2.jpg|Lacquer painting of the four ''tiên'' (immortals), 16th century, Vietnam |File:Fairy - Vietnam Museum of Ethnology - Hanoi, Vietnam - DSC02510.JPG|''Tiên'' (Immortal) water puppet at Vietnam Museum of Ethnology – Hanoi |File:Statues of fairies, and a fairy riding a dragon (17th century), Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts, Hanoi, Vietnam - 20131030.JPG|Statues of ''Tiên'' (Immortal), and a ''Tiên'' (Immortal) riding a dragon (17th century), Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts, Hanoi |File:Bảo tàng Lịch sử TP (BST Dương Hà, tượng nhỏ) (1).jpg|Ceramic statue of ''Tiên'' (Immortal) in a museum in Vietnam |File:Bảo tàng Lịch sử TP (BST Dương Hà, tượng nhỏ) (2).jpg|Ceramic statue of ''Tiên'' (Immortal) in a museum in Vietnam }}
===In popular culture=== [[File:Cosplay of Ganyu (NJ A3, 2021).jpg|thumb| Cosplay of ''Ganyu'' from ''Genshin Impact'', who was based on the female ''xian'' (called "adepti" in the game) according to its creators.<ref name="璃月雅集05">{{cite web |script-title=zh:《原神》小剧场——「璃月雅集」第五期 |url=https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oB4y1k7zw |website=bilibili |accessdate=2022-07-28 |language=zh-hans |date=2022-07-27 |archive-date=2022-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728023346/https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oB4y1k7zw}}</ref>]] ''Xian'' are common characters in Chinese fantasy works. There is a genre called ''xianxia'', which is part of a larger genre called cultivation fantasy or cultivation, named after the beings where characters usually seek to become ''xian'' in a fantasy world that is either militaristic or fraught with other dangers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ni |first=Zhange |date=2020-01-02 |title=Xiuzhen (Immortality Cultivation) Fantasy: Science, Religion, and the Novels of Magic/Superstition in Contemporary China |journal=Religions |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=25 |doi=10.3390/rel11010025 |doi-access=free |hdl=10919/96386 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
====Example works==== * ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy'', video game based on xianxia fiction. * ''Lotus Lantern'', an animated film based on the story of ''The Magic Lotus Lantern.'' * ''Heaven Official's Blessing'' features a story based on the concept of ''xian'' and spiritual worship and cultivation. * ''Xuanyuan Sword'', video game based on xianxia fiction. * ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'', a 1983 Hong Kong supernatural ''wuxia'' fantasy film directed by Tsui Hark and based on the 1932 xianxia novel ''Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu'' by Huanzhulouzhu.
==See also== {{div col|colwidth=33em}} * Shen (Chinese religion) * Zhenren * Eight Immortals * Eight Immortals from Sichuan * Fu Lu Shou * Old Man of the South Pole * Magu * Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) * Temples of the Five Immortals in China: ** In Shiyan (Hubei) ** In Guangzhou * Kunlun Mountain in mythology * Peaches of Immortality * Xianxia (genre) * Sansin * Shijie (Taoism), a transformation to a ''Xian''. * Yama-no-Kami * Rishi * Weizza * Woodwose * Yaoguai, a type of ghost that was sometimes thought to be synonymous with the spirits of Taoist immortals * Zhiguai xiaoshuo, folklore stories where ''xian'' are sometimes found {{div col end}}
==Notes== {{reflist|group=Notes}} {{notelist}}
==References== *Akahori, Akira. 1989. "Drug Taking and Immortality", in ''Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques'', ed. Livia Kohn. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, pp. 73–98. {{ISBN|0-89264-084-7}}. *Blofeld, John. 1978. ''Taoism: The Road to Immortality''. Boston: Shambhala. {{ISBN|1-57062-589-1}}. * {{cite book |last=Campany |first=Robert Ford |date=2002 |title=To Live As Long As Heaven and Earth: Ge Hong's Traditions of Divine Transcendents |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-23034-5 }} *DeWoskin, Kenneth. 1990. "''Xian'' Descended: Narrating ''Xian'' among Mortals." ''Taoist Resources'' 1.2:21–27. * {{cite book |translator-last=Graham |translator-first=A.C.|orig-date=1960 |date=1990 |title=The Book of Lieh-tzǔ: A Classic of Tao |location=New York City |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-07237-6 |ref=CITEREFGraham1960 }} * {{cite book |translator-last=Hawkes |translator-first=David |translator-link=David Hawkes (scholar) |date=1985 |title=The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-044375-4 |ref=CITEREFHawkes1985 }} * {{cite book |last=Komjathy |first=Louis |date=2004 |title=Daoist texts in translation |url=http://www.daoistcenter.org/Articles/Articles_pdf/Texts.pdf |archive-date=26 May 2005 |access-date=25 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050526005650/http://www.daoistcenter.org/Articles/Articles_pdf/Texts.pdf }} * {{cite journal |last=Loewe |first=Michael |date=1978 |title=Man and Beast: The Hybrid in Early Chinese Art and Literature |journal=Numen |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=97–117}} *Robinet, Isabel. 1986. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060628203715/http://www.faculty.sbc.edu/goulde/jester.html "The Taoist Immortal: Jesters of Light and Shadow, Heaven and Earth"]. ''Journal of Chinese Religions'' 13/14:87–106. * {{cite journal |last=Wallace |first=Leslie V. |date=2001 |title=BETWIXT AND BETWEEN: Depictions of Immortals (''Xian'') in Eastern Han Tomb Reliefs |journal=Ars Orientalis |volume=41 |pages=73–101}} * {{cite book |translator-last=Watson |translator-first=Burton |translator-link=Burton Watson |date=1968 |title=The Complete works of Chuang Tzu |location=New York City |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-03147-5 |ref=CITEREFWatson1968 }} * {{cite book |last=Welch |first=Holmes |date=1957 |title=Taoism: The Parting of the Way |location=Boston |publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=0-8070-5973-0 }} *Wong, Eva. 2000. ''The Tao of Health, Longevity, and Immortality: The Teachings of Immortals Chung and Lü.'' Boston: Shambhala.
'''Footnotes''' {{reflist|25em|refs= <ref name=Mair1994_376>Mair, Victor H. 1994. ''Wandering on the Way: early Taoist tales and parables of Chuang Tzu''. New York: Bantam. p. 376. {{ISBN|0-553-37406-0}}.</ref>
<ref name =Werner1922>{{cite book |first=E.T.C. |last=Werner |author-link=E. T. C. Werner |date=1922 |title=Myths & Legends of China |location=New York City |publisher=George G. Harrap & Co. }} [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15250 Available online] from Project Gutenberg.</ref>
<ref name=Schafer1966_204>Schafer, Edward H. (1966), "Thoughts about a Students' Dictionary of Classical Chinese," ''Monumenta Serica'' 25: 197–206. p. 204.</ref>
<ref name=WuDavis1935_224>Wu Lu-ch'iang and Tenney L. Davis. 1935. "An Ancient Chinese Alchemical Classic. Ko Hung on the Gold Medicine and on the Yellow and the White", ''Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'' 70:221–284. p. 224.</ref>
<ref name=Schuessler2007_527>Schuessler, Axel. 2007. ''ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 527. {{ISBN|0-8248-1111-9}}.</ref>
<ref name=Schipper1993_164>Schipper, Kristofer. 1993. ''The Taoist Body''. Berkeley: University of California. p. 164. {{ISBN|0-520-08224-9}}.</ref>
<ref name="CanonDesPoèmes_II7220">{{cite web |title=Shi Jing – Le Canon des Poèmes – II.7.(220) |translator=James Legge |website=Association Française des Professeurs de Chinois |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url=http://www.afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?lang=fr&no=220&l=Shijing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927005113/http://www.afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?lang=fr&no=220&l=Shijing |access-date=25 May 2021 }}</ref>
<ref name=NeedhamWang1956_134>{{cite book |last1=Needham |first1=Joseph |author-link1=Joseph Needham |last2=Wang |first2=Ling |author-link2=Wang Ling (historian) |date=1956 |chapter=History of Scientific Thought |title=Science and Civilisation in China |volume=2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=134}}</ref>
<ref name=Paper1995_55>Paper, Jordan D. 1995. ''The Spirits Are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion''. State University of New York Press. p. 55.</ref>
<ref name=Fox1995_100>Fox, Alan. [https://www.udel.edu/Philosophy/afox/zhuangzi.htm ''Zhuangzi''], in ''Great Thinkers of the Eastern World'', Ian P. McGreal ed., HarperCollins Publishers, 1995, 99–103. p. 100.</ref>
<ref name=Kohn1993_1424>Kohn, Livia. 1993. ''The Taoist Experience: an anthology''. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 142–4. {{ISBN|0-7914-1579-1}}.</ref>
<ref name=Hsi2002_99100>Hsi, Lai. 2002. ''The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon: Taoist Methods for Male Sexual Revitalization''. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books. pp. 99–100. {{ISBN|0-89281-963-4}}.</ref>
<ref name=Hsi2001_48>{{cite book |last=Hsi |first=Lai |date=2001 |title=The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress: Secrets of the Female Taoist Masters |location=Rochester, Vermont |publisher=Destiny Books |page=48 |isbn=0-89281-868-9 }}</ref> }}
{{Commons category|Xian (Taoism)}} {{Commons category|Sennin}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|xian|仙|仚|僊|xiān|hsien}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090713050436/http://kirkland.myweb.uga.edu/rk/pdf/pubs/ref/IMMORTAL "Transcendence and Immortality"], Russell Kirkland, The Encyclopedia of Taoism *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070603113527/http://www.east-asian-history.net/textbooks/PM-China/ch7_main.htm Chapter Seven: Later Daoism], Gregory Smits, Topics in Premodern Chinese History *[http://www.bookrags.com/research/xian-eorl-14/ Xian], Encyclopedia of Religion
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